The British Met Office has recently issued an "Advance Warning of Severe Weather" forecasting heavy snow affecting Scotland, Northern Ireland, North West England, North East England, The Midlands, Wales and East Anglia and Lincolnshire on Thursday and Friday (http://www.met-office.gov.uk/). It says that accumulations of several cm combined with strong northerly winds could cause disruption to transport. It seems it's going to be cold!

Do you think it is likely that British airports are going to be "disrupted"? Which airports in this regions do you thing are less prepared to face a situation like that? Some friends of mine are flying to MME on Friday morning, do you thing this airport could work normally during "heavy snow" conditions?

Thanks

Have a nice day!

At the bus station, buses stop. At the train station, trains stop. At my desk, I have a work station.

You might remember the "Rain" fiasco we had in the summer where LHR stopped operating for an afternoon because it rained. I mean that wasn't the first time it ever rained in London. Snow could be a problem however as LHR can grind to a complete halt due to someone near the tarmac with dandruff. Leaves are also now liable to cause flight delays and cancelations.

British Rail used to hold the book of useless excuses but it seems BAA have now taken a few photocopies.

"Plane cancelled due to staff shortages". That must be due to crop up at a BAA airport near you soon.

I'd believe it, because around the Are region of Sweden at the same time, the temperature is predicted to drop to -15/-16, already! So, yes, if it is that cold there, i think snow in britian is quite on the cards.

I think you are reading too much into this weather warning. It will rain in most of the UK, there is just a chance that it may snow on the hills. The disruption will be on the roads where there may be more accidents/roads closed for whatever reason/traffic problems etc. The airports will largely go unaffected.

go and check out the weather forecast for the Swedish ski resort of Are.
(A with 'o' on top..can't do it properly using english keyboard.)

Its about in line with Trondhiem and Ostersund. Granted that is a fair way north, but it is still below the arctic circle and if supercold artic winds are sending that place so cold so early, I can't see why it can't affect the UK.

Catatonic,
I don't know if MAN has heaters under the runways, but there is a system available that melts snow and ice when it lands on the ground. I don't know if MAN has this installed either, but one of the systems consists of a copper wire embedded in graphite and asphalt. The electric current runs through the copper wire and heats the surrounding area causing the snow and ice to melt.

Most of England (not for non-Britons: not the UK, England) is ill-equipped to handle heavy snow because it doesn't happen very often. Why invest heavily in equipment if it will only be used one or two days a year. There are better ways to use the money.

"There are no stupid questions, but there are a lot of inquisitive idiots."

I'm off to Tallinn in February and have been today looking at the webcams which have showed its been snowing most the day over there (current temp is -3oC, 21.26 local time) - Could this be the snow coming our way....??

I wouldn't be suprised if there was mass desruption due to the weather, Britain is a country allergic to shall i say "extreme" weather. An extra inch of snow or rain and the world stops spinning. If you ever get caught in any kind of disruption due to 4 inches of snow, it can be frustrating as hell.

Here in Stockholm we are waiting for the first snow to arrive tonight. It's expected to come between 10-20 cm during the night, with tempatures going down to -10 degrees C. tomorrow evening. And to that, its gona be really windy. So its winter tyres on today.
But it will have non or very little affect of the air traffic I guess.

This was really of topic, but hey, the first snow of the season is alwasy something special...